The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to allow its election booth management functionaries to begin meetings on a small scale with social distancing measures in place as it seeks to resume political activity in poll-bound Bihar, two functionaries aware of the matter said.
A state BJP functionary said the first such meeting will take place on May 31 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann ki Baat’ will be aired.
Assembly elections in Bihar, where the BJP is part of the ruling coalition, are due later this year. The polls are crucial since the BJP lost power in the neighbouring Jharkhand last year while it was unable to form the government in Maharashtra despite emerging as the single largest party. In Haryana, the BJP returned to power but with a reduced majority. The Election Commission has put on hold elections to fill vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha as well as by-elections in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have decided that seven people put in charge of a booth in every assembly constituency will gather to hear the broadcast together and that will serve the purpose of restarting political activity without breaking any protocols,” said the functionary on condition of anonymity.
The activity will be started as a pilot in 50,000 of 62,000 booth areas across Bihar. Seven booth functionaries, known as ‘saptarishis’, each will gather to hear the broadcast and exchange their feedback. No person from the general public will be allowed to attend the programmes that will be documented and shared through social media, the functionary said.
{{/usCountry}}The activity will be started as a pilot in 50,000 of 62,000 booth areas across Bihar. Seven booth functionaries, known as ‘saptarishis’, each will gather to hear the broadcast and exchange their feedback. No person from the general public will be allowed to attend the programmes that will be documented and shared through social media, the functionary said.
{{/usCountry}}“Though there is little we can do by way of political activity, like gathering or sabhas, we have decided to bolster our presence at the booth level. Earlier there used to be three people in charge, now there are seven, which includes a woman, and representatives from the SC [scheduled caste], ST [scheduled tripe] and EBC [Economically Backward Class] categories,” the functionary said.
Asked whether the BJP’s state unit has begun discussions on how to prepare for the election, a second national functionary said the party’s focus is now on providing relief to migrant workers, who have been left jobless because of the Covid-19 lockdown and have been returning to states like Bihar, and combating the pandemic.
“It is too early to start preparing for the election, but as a party that has a strong cadre, we have told our members to focus on issues at hand,” the second functionary said.